ROUND ROCK, Texas — A family in Williamson County is suing Round Rock ISD for $6 million after they said their daughter was forgotten about and locked outside of the school after recess.
The little girl and the family's identity has not been made public but the attorney representing the family said this is a serious safety issue.
Surveillance video from Round Rock's Old Town Elementary School shows what happened on Sept. 11 of last year.
You can see the students and the teacher filing into the school after recess. The last student in the back stops to get a rock out of her shoe. That's when the family said their daughter, who was four at the time, was locked outside.
"The trauma that was inflicted on our little girl that day, in the lawsuit, is still continuing," said Terry Gorman, the attorney representing the family.
$1 million would be actual damage and $5 million would be punitive.
"The child continues to be suffering emotional and mental issues," said Gorman.
In a statement, Round Rock ISD said the student was outside for three minutes. The teacher involved was a substitute and hasn't worked at the school since the incident.
The district said it hasn't received notice yet of the lawsuit. The family's attorney said that will happen next week.
Round Rock ISD released the following statement Friday:
We don’t generally comment on a lawsuit we haven’t received, but are aware of the claim. What we can say is the safety and welfare of our students is our absolute utmost priority and these are the types of situations we do everything in our power to prevent. In this particular situation a student was accidentally left outside for a period of approximately three minutes by a substitute teacher as the class was returning from recess. The district took appropriate disciplinary action against the substitute, and that substitute has not and will not be working for the district again. We took this situation extremely seriously and immediately investigated. We reviewed and updated safety procedures and will continue to train all staff on measures to keep students safe. We are confident that, if we are served with a lawsuit, the courts will agree that the district acted diligently in this matter and that we work closely with our families to address all concerns.